A PORTLAND music festival in danger of collapse has been postponed for a month.

Organisers at Jurassic Rocks due to held over the weekend of July 17 and 18 have taken the 'difficult decision' to reschedule and reduce the numbers attending in a bid to save if from being cancelled.

All current tickets are valid for the new dates and now give three days of music for the price of two as an extra day has been added. Refunds are available for anyone not able to make the new dates.

The festival was first held last year over one day and attracted around 3,000.

It was born out of an idea of how to get people to visit Portland and have a great time doing it.

However poor ticket sales this year has forced a rethink from organiser Glenn Chadwick.

Mr Chadwick admitted it had been looking 'doom and gloom' as ticket sales were down 50 per cent on last year.

He said he was faced with two options – cancel, or reschedule and 'restructure' the festival.

Mr Chadwick, a Portland town councillor, said: "It's not just us, other festivals are struggling.

"But we're not ones to give up. We didn't want to lose it and had to think of a way to keep it going. It's a shame we've had to do this but I think it will be a better event for it.

"This year the festival will have a more intimate feel."

Jurassic Rocks will be held at Grove Farm from Friday, August 21 to Sunday, August 23.

Attendance will be limited to 500 a day and there are limited tickets left.

Rescheduling means some bands – including headliners Skimmity Hitchers – will not be appearing.

However there will be more bands, 25 in total playing over the weekend, with C Sharp Blues headlining Friday, RatRace headlining Saturday and The Leylines headlining Sunday.

Adding an extra day allows more bands that want to be involved to be included on the bill, said Mr Chadwick.

He added: "We thought long and hard about moving the dates but we want this festival to be the best it can be and with twenty five bands playing over three days it will be.

"I also completely understand that this decision will make it difficult for some ticket holders to attend, full refunds are available to these people who can’t make the new dates all they have to do is email us at info@jurassicrocks.co.uk with their ticket numbers and we will do the rest.”

All the other elements of the festival are still there – free camping, parking along with all the usual food, beer and cider outlets. Tickets available from jurassicrocks.co.uk